Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Cuts Position in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. has decreased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 2.1%, selling 13,100 shares and owning approximately 0.07% of the company worth $71.3 million.
• Several institutional investors have made significant changes to their positions in KKR, with National Bank of Canada increasing its stake by 44% during the first quarter.
• KKR & Co. Inc. recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.185, up from the previous $0.18, reflecting a 0.5% annualized yield.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. trimmed its position in KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 616,600 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 13,100 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.07% of KKR & Co. Inc. worth $71,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KKR. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $844,137,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 4,918.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,393,841 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $507,972,000 after buying an additional 4,306,290 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,584,370 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $973,894,000 after buying an additional 3,391,581 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 14.3% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,081,760 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,206,042,000 after buying an additional 2,391,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unisphere Establishment lifted its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1,594.5% in the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 1,262,400 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $145,946,000 after buying an additional 1,187,900 shares during the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KKR. Citizens Jmp cut KKR & Co. Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley raised KKR & Co. Inc. from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised KKR & Co. Inc. from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $158.07.

KKR & Co. Inc. Price Performance

NYSE KKR traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $135.53. The company had a trading volume of 3,412,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,726,722. The company has a market capitalization of $120.75 billion, a PE ratio of 63.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $141.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.04. KKR & Co. Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.15 and a twelve month high of $170.40.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. KKR & Co. Inc. had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 12.95%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.185 dividend. This is an increase from KKR & Co. Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. KKR & Co. Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 34.42%.

Insider Activity at KKR & Co. Inc.

In other news, Chairman George R. Roberts sold 809,906 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.25, for a total value of $116,828,940.50. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 81,361,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,736,465,326.50. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 39.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About KKR & Co. Inc.

KKR & Co, Inc operates as an investment firm. It offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. The firm's business segments include Asset Management and Insurance Business. The Asset Management segment engages in providing private equity, real assets, credit and liquid strategies, capital markets, and principal activities.